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Monday, June 1, 2015

Just a Little Life Update and Summer Reading Plans.

First, I know I dropped off the face of the earth for a month or so. I kind of knew I needed to focus on the huge amount of crap that I had to do in the month of May. But now that June is here and I'm counting down the days of school we have left in the year (9!), I'm ready to focus on all of the amazing books and things I have planned for my summer vacation.

I submitted my first portfolio for my National Board Certification on May 20, and I'm so glad that the process is over with. The directions were so convoluted and unclear that I'm still not sure I did it correctly. But I got to the point where I just needed to be done with it and submit, whether or not it was "correct." I'm tackling 2 components next year-another portfolio and the content test. I'm not that nervous for the content test, as I was selected to take a new version later this month in return for being compensated (I figured it would give me an advantage and let me know what I need to study for). Truthfully, I did well on the practice questions, and I owe a lot of that to the reading I do. But going into next year, I'm approaching the portfolio component very differently than what I did this year. It'll (hopefully) go much smoother.

We've also had a slew of end-of-the-year stuff going on at school. I chaperoned prom this year, which was a blast. I've been processing applications for my school's chapter of NHS (I'm the adviser) and handed out acceptance/rejection letters today. I've also been grading up a storm, and as of today, I'm pretty much caught up. Given how busy I usually am at the end of the year, I'm really surprised at how much I have done. Most of my room has been torn down (posters, etc) thanks to some students, and while I have a little filing to do, I'm in good shape to wrap up my year quickly on our last day next Friday.

Which leaves the summer free for reading and prepwork. We still don't know what classes we're teaching next year (our district is actually laying off...lots of budget issues, so things are unclear right now), but I might be teaching a new class that is right up my alley. But, I also want to spend a lot of time reading and doing some things I've been meaning to get around to.

With the uncertainty surrounding jobs and employment and everything else I've gone through, I know I need to begin taking matters into my own hands and pursuing the things I really love. Life is too short to waste it by not being happy. And as I'm turning 30 in July, it's time to make those changes.

In terms of reading, I'm going to read a few Victorian novels for my event that's taking place June and July. I also want to read some bigger fantasy series to decompress. It'll be a good mix, I think. :)

Anyway, I have about 15 posts sitting in draft and waiting to go up in the next few weeks and almost all of them are book reviews and thoughts. I'm going to peck away at them over the next few weeks to relaunch my home here on the internet.

Let me know what you're planning on reading this summer, and anything else I should know about your life. :)

3 comments:

I look forward to reading your upcoming postings. My reading plans are outlined in my first posting at my new blog, God and the American Writer. First up is Kazin's book (with the same title as my blog). Finally, I wish you well in your professional plans.